The extent of the injuries of those involved in the three-vehicle wreck about 5:30 p.m. just north of the Georgia-South Carolina line, was unavailable at press time, according to officials from both states.

Multiple agencies responded to the incident in which all three vehicles and the bridge were heavily damaged, said Mark Keller, Savannah Fire spokesman.

Although the collision did occur in South Carolina, Keller said, Savannah Fire and Savannah-Chatham police were able to arrive more quickly. The departments worked hand-in-hand with South Carolina agencies to shut down both the Talmadge Memorial and Back River bridges, divert traffic from the area, extricate a person from a car and extinguish a fire in another car.

A witness who was driving northbound into South Carolina directly behind the tractor trailer said the incident began when a car sped up, moved into the southbound lane and attempted to pass both her car and the truck.

It collided head-on with a southbound car, forcing both vehicles into the tractor trailer, said Laura Wearren. The tractor trailer then took out a large section of the bridge’s concrete railing but managed to keep from driving off the bridge entirely.

“I was caught right in the middle,” said Wearren, a Savannah Morning News employee. “It was horrifying. By the time I realized what happened, I just put on my brakes at that point because I started to run over a bunch of debris.”

Wearren said the driver of the car that attempted to pass her escaped his vehicle with the help of another person before it caught fire. That driver was eventually life-flighted to a hospital.

The driver of the southbound car that was struck head-on had to be extricated from his vehicle.

Savannah Fire firefighters initially used the Jaws of Life to try to free him, but eventually had to dismantle nearly the entire car, Keller said. That driver was taken to a hospital by ambulance.

Meanwhile, Savannah Fire and Jasper County firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze that sent billows of black smoke high into the air.

Late Tuesday night crews were continuing to clear the scene, said Cpl. Robert Beres, South Carolina Highway Patrol spokesman. There was no indication of when the Talmadge or Back River bridges would reopen to traffic.

At the time, police were allowing travel between Savannah and Hutchinson Island but asking motorists to use the Houlihan Bridge in Port Wentworth or Interstate 95 to travel between Georgia and South Carolina.